Advances in artificial intelligence are destined to make our lives and shopping experiences even better – good news for the consumer, and good news for retailers – but will machines eventually out-do humans, asks Uwe Hennig, chief executive of retail tech specialist Detego? There have been a number of buzzwords and defining technology trends in retail over the last decade: from Big Data, to Omni-channel, and the ubiquitous, omni-present Cloud. And now the internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) have seemingly become the latest crazes and talk of the town. Forrester expects investment in AI to triple this year. By 2020, 85 percent of customer interactions will be managed by AI according to research by Gartner.

Amazon is currently holding a multi-city job fair where it is expected to hire more than 50,000 people for retail jobs. But, in what seems to be a paradox, the company is also steadily employing robots at its plants and is developing technology which would one day take over these jobs, and replace humans at its warehouses. The company, which has given retail giants such as Walmart and Kroger a run for their money is the fourth largest retail employer in the U.S. Walmart leads in terms of jobs, with 2.3 million employees on its rolls, Kroger comes in second with 443,000 employees and Home Depot is on third place with 406,000 staffers. Amazon currently employs 341,000 employees, but is looking to hire more, which could soon push it to number three. Read: Walmart Plans To Create 1.5 Million Jobs, Unveils Manufacturing Strategy The company is also offering good incentives -- a minimum wage of $14 along with health insurance, retirement savings plan and stock awards, which is why thousands of people are queuing up for positions at its fulfillment centers.

Retailers are increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence technology, and 87 out of 100 retailers using AI are doing so to increase customer engagement, according to a study from customer care automation platform company Linc and branding firm BrandGarage. The study indicated that a vast majority of those surveyed plan to embrace AI specifically in the next 24 months, and will be on the hunt for AI-powered solutions that improve customer service. Additionally, the study stated that 34% of those surveyed have begun experimenting with customer-facing AI trials or pilots, though it also noted that only 7.7% of retailers have rolled out AI as a regular part of customer service to-date. On the surface, there is nothing too surprising about these survey results, though hearing about 87% of a group of retailers all whistling the same tune about anything is enough to make one sit up and take notice. AI has slowly been creeping into retail operations, both in customer-facing and back office applications, and this survey suggests that any organizations who weren't on board with that notion before are embracing the technology.

In the battle of humans versus machine on the warehouse floor, some companies have found common ground. Instead of developing technology to completely replace manpower, these firms are designing robots meant to work alongside people. These robots, for example, can guide workers to items to be picked or can transport goods across a warehouse to be packed and shipped. Deutsche Post AG's DHL is testing "swarming" robots at a facility in Memphis, Tenn. These machines help workers pick out medical devices that need to be shipped quickly.

Thousands of people showed up Wednesday for a chance to pack and ship products to Amazon customers, as the e-commerce company held a giant job fair at nearly a dozen U.S. warehouses. Although the wages offered will make it hard for some to make ends meet, many of the candidates were excited by the prospect of health insurance and other benefits, as well as advancement opportunities. It's common for Amazon to ramp up its shipping center staff in August to prepare for holiday shopping. But the magnitude of its current hiring spree underscores Amazon's growth when traditional retailers are closing stores -- and blaming Amazon for a shift to buying goods online. Amazon said it received "a record-breaking 20,000 applications" and hired thousands of people on the spot, and will hire more in the coming days.

Amazon.com will hire thousands of new full-time employees on-the-spot to fill 50,000 available fulfillment network positions during its first "Amazon Jobs Day," August 2, 2017. Amazon is holding a giant job fair Wednesday, Aug. 2, and plans to make thousands of job offers on the spot at nearly a dozen U.S. warehouses. Though it's common for Amazon to ramp up its shipping center staff in August to prepare for holiday shopping, the magnitude of the hiring spree underscores Amazon's growth when traditional retailers are closing stores -- and blaming Amazon for a shift to buying goods online. Amazon planned to hire thousands of people on the spot. Nearly 40,000 of the 50,000 packing, sorting and shipping jobs at Amazon will be full time.

Along with other tech trends, Natural Language Processing became another buzzword in the past years. But not everyone really understands what NLP is and how it can be used to improve efficiency of the process and impact your business in a positive way. In this article I will be briefly explaining what natural language processing is, how it is used, a few benefits on-site search get from doing it and I will mention a some cool startups that are doing natural language processing today. Let's start with the basics. Natural language processing (NLP) is the ability of a computer program to understand human speech as it is spoken.

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Marketers in retail and ecommerce have big expectations for the impact of artificial intelligence on their sector, with 88% forecasting that it will reinvent the industry and 81% looking to AI to reinvent what their company does. But while big changes are ahead, only 11% of practitioners are classed as already AI marketing experts according to a new survey. This leading group has already shown excellence in its digital capabilities across strategy, organisation and technology. By contrast, 27% are classed as laggards and 28% as novices, with the rest opportunists. The event horizon when AI becomes mainstream seems likely to be late 2018 and, even then, most plans are focused on the automation of existing marketing activities, rather than innovative new ways of delivering the customer experience.

Following a series of news stories highlighting issues such as job cuts and payments below the minimum wage, is the shine coming off John Lewis? Or is this simply a readjustment process that any major retailer might have to endure to emerge stronger?